HBO has continued to use their “Making Game of Thrones” production diary to give fans great views inside the creative process. This time around, it’s a 3-minute interview with fight coordinate Buster Reeves. Included is a first look at the fight scene between The Mountain versus The Hound, brothers Gregor and Sandor Clegane.

Kudos to HBO for making such great clips available online. When you’re doing something well, you should by all means show it off. After all, there’s no audience more receptive to such content than a pre-existing audience of die-hard fans from the adapted novels.

For more coverage of the Game of Thrones TCA press tour events from last week, check out the following recommendations from Making Game of Thrones:

Earlier today we brought you news about the "Game of Thrones" panel at the Television Critics Association press tour, at which the premiere date of the long-anticipated HBO miniseries was announced: April 17th. Now we present to you the newest official photos from the production!

The news is out: Game of Thrones will be premiering on Sunday, April 17th. On Friday, HBO updated their production diary to announce the news, posting this sole teaser image showing a tent with the stag-emblazoned flag of House Baratheon flying in the breeze. The information was originally provided as part of a larger event, a panel at the Television Critics Association press tour.

HBO had hoped to show critics the entire pilot, but the footage was not ready in time. Instead, a special 15-minute cut of footage from the first three episodes was shown in its place. The footage was shown to only those at the event, and has not been posted online. However, some local bloggers attended the screening and posted their scene-by-scene impressions.

Martin had revealed on his blog that he intended to have at least one, but potentially two, major announcements during the TCA press tour. The first was the premiere date, and we speculated that the second would be news on the completion of his 5th book in the series, A Dance with Dragons. Read More...

With George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones TV series only months away from its premiere on HBO, the buzz is ramping up among geek circles. A common occurrence, though, is that many fans of the series have been hesitant to introduce friends to the books for fear that the seven-part series will never be completed. Their fear is not without warrant, since Martin was able to produce the first three entries over the span of 8 years, but later took 5 years to complete the fourth book, and is now over 5 years into writing the oft-delayed fifth book.

However, struggling in the middle of a fiction series is not some unseen phenomenon. In fact, it happens quite regularly (See: Jean M. Auel, Patrick Rothfuss, and Chritopher Priest, among others). These struggles are not a strong reason to dismiss the great works Martin has already produced, but that leads to the inevitable question: where exactly is A Dance with Dragons? In search of that answer, let’s take a (mostly spoiler-free) look at some history:

To truly understand why George R R Martin has struggle so much to write this fifth book, it is necessary to go back to the fourth book, A Feast for Crows. In the original structure of seven books, Feast was supposed to take place after a 5 year jump in the timeline. Several characters had assumed new positions of power and were handed large responsibilities that they would need time to mature into, so this time gap made perfect sense. Martin has also been quoted saying he wishes the Stark children were older at the start of A Game of Thrones, as it would allow him freedom to develop the characters into their 20s (something the 5-year gap device would also enable). Read More...

Last night, HBO ran a 10-minute behind-the-scenes feature on Game of Thrones leading up to the Boardwalk Empire season finale. While it was filled with before-unseen footage, it also gave viewers a first time looks at some of the creative forces behind this production. Check out the full preview and our impressions below:

• The show appears to be incredibly faithful to its source material. Several major plotlines are presented within A Game of Thrones, none of which begin to converge until much later in other books of the Song of Ice and Fire series. Where it would be extremely easy to cut one of these seemingly extraneous plots, such as Jon Snow’s adventures at The Wall or the Targaryens’ journey across the sea, it looks as though these events will be given plenty of screen time.

• Northern Ireland is proving to be the perfect filming location, as it looks spot on with the impressions of Westeros gathered from reading the books. The sets and locations are stunning, but not in the “Lord of the Rings” fashion of showing the viewer something larger than life. The “wow factor” here will come from a supreme attention to detail rather than flashy special effects. The works due to the fact that while A Game of Thrones does take place in a fantasy realm, its traditional fantasy elements are downplayed. For instance, strange creatures and magical powers do exist, but they are so barely present that many characters doubt their very existence.

• Peter Dinklage is proving himself to be the perfect casting of Tyrion Lannister. Aside from the obvious benefit of avoiding over-use of special effects by having an actor of impaired height to play the treacherous imp, Dinklage has the mental qualifications to play the role. Simply put, he just sounds downright intelligent when he speaks. For a character that is able to exert an incredible influence on others through the careful use of words, it is very important to have a smart man who can talk his way out of a box. Fans can eagerly look forward to seeing Dinklage’s portrayal in some of Tyrion’s more slippery moments.--

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With filming entering its final weeks, HBO has launched into full publicity mode for its upcoming Game of Thrones TV series. This past Sunday, they aired the third and longest trailer prior to the newest Boardwalk Empire this past Sunday. What’s more, they’ll also be airing a 15-minute behind-the-scenes preview before this week’s Boardwalk Empire finale. Are you excited yet?

As the series gets ready to debut (the best rumors state April 2011, although nothing has been confirmed), we thought it’d be good to take a deeper look at the cast. Make note that this will be a massive ensemble cast, primarily due to George R. R. Martin’s writing style, which involves shifting the reader’s point of view to a different character for each chapter. As the lead players spread themselves far across the lands of Westeros, the number of supporting characters important to each causes the total cast list to explode. Admirably, it does not seem as though HBO is taking the easy way out by cutting roles.

Also, many of the lead roles are for child and teenage actors, meaning this large cast is rife with unknowns. That being said, there are still plenty of actors and actresses that you will recognize as you view the trailers, although you might not be sure where you remember them from. Consider this your guide to the Game of Thrones previews, as we’re going to look at each of the established actors on this show and present their geek cred resumes for your perusal. These may not be their top-billed roles, but they are the ones that the geek in the room will remember them for. Read More...

Nothing is more cringe-worthy than hearing your favorite movie is being made into a videogame. These adaptations have a long history of disappointment dating all the way back to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600, which caused so much consumer backlash that it nearly killed the video game industry. It doesn’t end there, though. Television shows, novels, and even comic books all tend to produce lackluster games, as games such as 2008’s Batman: Arkham Asylum are exceptions where Superman for the Nintendo 64 is the rule.

Fortunately, board games tend not to suffer from this issue, so today I’ll present some of the best interpretations of licensed properties turned to games. One important distinction to note it that these are hobbyist games aimed at adults rather than children’s games. These games take important elements and themes from a property’s source material and incorporate them into strategic game mechanics, whereas children’s games are typically re-skinned versions of classic games. With that in mind, let’s take a look to see which licensed games stand out in the crowd: Read More...

• This week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly features a first look at the filming of the upcoming Game of Thrones HBO series. The print piece features many exclusive photos from the set, and a preview has been posted at the Entertainment Weekly website. Martin also revealed that the series re-used pieces of the set from the upcoming James Franco film Your Highness.

• A brand new anthology of short stories edited by George R. R. Martin, Songs of Love & Death, was published for the first time on November 16th by Pocket Books. The anthology compiles seventeen tales that span the genres of fantasy, paranormal romance, and science fiction, including stories written by such famous authors as Neil Gaiman.

• Speaking of anthologies, WILD CARDS, a collection of superhero and science fiction stories edited by George R. R. Martin is getting a new and improved re-print of the first entry into the series. WILD CARDS Volume I was originally published 1987, but this new edition will feature three brand new short stories: "Captain Cathode and the Secret Ace" by Michael Cassutt, "Powers" by David D. Levine, and "Ghost Girl Takes Manhattan" by Carrie Vaughn Read More...